Lullaby Land

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 18, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is a very deep knower of the Ragozin Variation. 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nbd7 8. e3 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Qb3 c5 11. Rc1. The alternative 11. dxc5 Qa5 leads to nothing special, Girya – Zaiatz, 64th Russian Women’s Chess Championship, Vladivostok 2014. 11. ... Qa5 12. Nd2 Nxg3 13. hxg3 cxd4 14. exd4 Nf6 15. Bd3 Be6 16. a3 Bxc3 17. Rxc3 Rc8 18. Rxc8+ Bxc8 19. Qb4 Qxb4 20. axb4 Ke7 21. Nb1 Bd7 22. Nc3 a6 23. f3 Kd6 24. Kf2 Ng8 25. Ra1 Ne7 26. Ra5 Rc8 27. g4 Rc6

28. b5. White has achieved nothing and finally decides to agree a peace deal for rebuilding his “theoretical ego”. 28. ... axb5 29. Rxb5 Rxc3 30. bxc3 Bxb5 31. Bxb5 f5 32. gxf5 Nxf5 33. Bd3 Ke6 34. g4 Ng7 35. Ke3 h5 36. gxh5 Nxh5 37. c4 ½ : ½. “Of course I can’t complain about my results”, then 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) said.

If they are looking elsewhere, they can’t see the photographer. Photo: Tata Steel Chess.